Bungie.net Art Submissions

We here at Bungie.net have started a process for collecting Bungie fan art in one place. We'll be going through all of the submissions monthly, hosting and featuring the best submissions from you guys. View and submit your own entries in this Gallery forum thread.

A full rundown of the process and its guidelines along with a disclaimer are available in that original Gallery Forum thread as well.

News breaks about the movie this week and we're here with clarity and hints of good news to come. We also return with a guest appearance of Ask Noguchi, discuss the EGM visit to play Halo 3 and even a couple of Waaaahmbulance mails.

Last night the Community Team had a few Free-For-All Halo 3 games which ended up being the Humpday for this week. Don't expect to find any new Halo 3 info, but if you enjoy general Halo tactics and vagueries then this Humpday's for you! And yes, it was because Xbox Live was borked.

This week we took some time to chat with Chris547, Bungie.net moderator extraordinaire and Mob of Angry Peasants co-founder. He talks about his roots in the community, wrecking cars and, for no apparent reason, puppies.

Frankie is still in Aruba, but Sketch and I decided he’s having too much fun so we looped him into the update. Thursday morning, we launched a coordinated trolling of several major Halo boards across the net, asking for questions for the Weekly Update and sent them along for him to answer.

XBL Maintenance on October 17th

Xbox Live is being taken down on October 17th for 24 hours, during which I suspect you'll all lose your minds. Xbox.com has put up a bunch of information on what exactly this means for you and what you can do in the meantime. I suggest lannage.

IGN Interviews Eric Nylund

IGN has taken a moment to sit down with Eric Nylund on the Ghosts of Onyx novel. The interview touches on a variety of topics, from the Halo universe to his writing style to some new details about the book itself. If you're interested in the book(s) at all, it's a good read.

Bungie did indeed compete in a Humpday last week but because things got crazy busy last week, there was no time to write it up until now. Last week, Bungie took on Code of War in yet another fun Humpday experience with cool people. Thankfully, we're okay with getting owned by cool dudes.

Halo: Games as Interactive Storytelling

Marty the Elder posted in The Marty Army a link to the first segment of three podcasts at The Kindlings Muse, the first with the Master of Stereotypes himself. The podcast is dubbed 'Halo: Games as Interactive Storytelling' and is a good listen. Check it.

Mr. O'Donnell himself posted a link to a series of podcasts on The Kindlings Muse, the first of which contains an interview with The Master of Stereotypes himself. The series of segments is based around the concepts of video game storytelling aptly named 'Halo: Games as Interactive Storytelling' and covers a range of issues now pertinent to the media industry in general and how games have and will lead us into the next generation of media.

This is only the first installment of three segments and the next podcast will include CJ Cowan, director of cinematics at Bungie Studios and Matthew Koenig of Seattle Pacific University. The last installment shall contain questions given by the live audience at Hales Ales Brewery and Pub. There is some good info about how the video games industry has and will evolve the media industry and anyone would do well to check it out, if not to hear Lance talk more about his Flintstones Kids jingle.

The mother of all spotlights with the father of the Halo community. This week I take a new approach: real-time chat, permitting me to achieve heights of jerkery not previously possible. Read on for some insight into what makes Wu tick, as well as volley after volley of insults.

The October 2006 Playlist Update has been released this morning and there've been quite a few changes. Chief among them is the swapping of the Community Carnage Playlist. Out with HBO and in with Real Custom Games. Team Swat has now become ranked and the usual tweaks have been applied to several playlists.

Unfortunately, Frankie's off lolling about the Carribean and was unable to bring you a Weekly Update this week. But I hear your cries. With the exception of that one guy asking for Noguchi's manbabies, you all want an update, and an update you shall get.

Matt Priestley, of the Halo 2 Vista team, checks in this week to let us know what's going down in his department. In his second developer diary he touches on the team's progress, how H2V was received in Barcelona and how some Vista-specific features are shaping up

7th Column Chess Tournament

This week it was decided to make a new tournament for the 7th Column to spice things up a bit. Here's the juicy info about it. Cover your eyes!

Starting October 22nd, the 7th Column Chess Tournament will begin, holding a no-holds bar matchup between any and all contestants who wish to join.

This tournament is open to all 7th column members, including moderators. The competition will be held for several weeks and will eventually lead to one victor, who will win this mint Halo Mylar by Eddie Smith.

The tournament requires signing up, which can be done at the Chess Contest chapter. Once you sign up in the Sign Up thread, you are officially entered into the tournament.

GIA Team SWAT Tournament Round-Up

A while ago Games in Action announced it was to host a Team SWAT Tournament. Well over the last two months teams have been battling it out for a chance to win $200. Read on to find out all the details about who won.

Over 254 teams signed up to play the tournament but only four teams could emerge as true champions when they reached the semi-finals. These four teams were; Team SG, Invalid Mob, Rebel Skum and Unnamed. Each team was made up of dedicated players who were up for anything and ready to go into combat with any of the other teams.

Unnamed were matched up against Rebel Skum and Team SG against Invalid Mob. The games were close but Unnamed and Invalid Mob were victorious and advanced on into the final where as the two runners up played each other to decide 3rd and 4th place.

The final game was a true clash of skill. The two teams played each other three times over a space of one hour. Invalid Mob took the first game with a score of 50 - 37. The second game saw Unnamed steal the game at a very close score of 50 -47. So with the total tied at 1 all this last game was to be the most important game in the whole tournament. Who would walk away with $200 and the title of GIA Team SWAT Champions?

This question was answered when Invalid mob showed true grit and determination and defeated Unnamed at the final hurdle. The score was 50 - 31, making the total score 2 - 1 to Invalid Mob. They went home with $200, where as Unnamed were awarded $100 and each of the two runners up got $50.

Congratulations to all of the finalist who played very well and made the tournament worth while. Many thanks to everyone who participated and the GIA Team who organized everything. And an extra special thanks to bungie.net for posting the original news story on their website.

Make sure to check our website out at www.gamesinaction.com for more information and details regarding future events. Oh and if you took part in the tournament, make sure you leave your details as all participants are to receive a free Games in Action pen.

This week we take another look at a Bungie.net community member, GameJunkieJim. You may know him from his role as a Bnet moderator and as the creator of Bathroom Reader. What you didn't know is that he wakes up earlier than you.

Red vs. Blue Season 5

The guys over at Rooster Teeth have released the much anticipated Season Five of the Red vs. Blue series. It's available for sponsors now, everyone else will have to wait until the weekend's over to grab it. w00t!

If you're as smart as me, you'll click the link for the movie about ten times before you log in as a sponsor and are able to download it, so don't forget to do that.

Frankie and Sketchfactor are still off cruising the nude beaches ("Toptional") of Barcelona, but in their stead I bring you cake. After you're done with that though, there's word from Frankie, some community news and a little tease from a sly Microsoft source of ours.

Halo 2 Vista Screens from X06

Bungie was pretty busy yesterday in Barcelona, not only with the two big announcements but also in showing off Halo 2 Vista. Today we've added the screenshots they released to the Halo 2 Vista section of the site, so go check them out!

X06 Humpday Challenge

Frankie and I are over in Barcelona for Microsoft's X06 event but we still managed to throw together a little Humpday Day challenge... with a twist. Some things may change, but some things will always remain the same.

As everyone knows by now, the X06 event is underway in full force and last night the Halo community was blasted with a double-header of new announcements including the new Ensemble RTS "Halo Wars" and our new partnership with Peter Jackson and Wingnut Interactive for future Halo experiences. It's been a whirlwind of excitement to be sure, but amidst the press and frenzy Frankie and I found a little time yesterday to throw together an impromptu Humpday Challenge of a slightly different variety.

On the outskirts of Barcelona in a very odd building known as "Hesperia Tower", the Microsoft PR team has transformed a generic conference room into what can best be described as a mini E3 event. There are literally dozens of playable games on the floor and yesterday we had the opportunity to play around a bit before the event officially got underway.

So, naturally, we decided to take our mad skillz we've acquired through thousands of hours of Halo pwnage and apply them to other games. Game One : The Shadowrun ChallengeFirst up, Frank and I ended up in a challenge match against some of the guys from Fasa studios in their upcoming title, Shadowrun. I know many people have a love hate relationship with this new iteration of a classic franchise but I can tell you that the game we played offered a ton of promise and looks to raise the bar in quite a few areas of gameplay and strategy. A few of us were playing on Xbox 360s and the rest were playing on PCs - a nifty new feature afforded by the advent of "Live Anywhere."

Much to my surprise, we completely destroyed the Fasa team at their own game, our first time ever playing. It was astonishing really.

Ok, so that's not at all what happened. We were demolished. And, we were pwned hardstyle by BOTS. Yes, bots. Vicious, mean bots that showed no mercy despite us never having touched the game before. We only had a short time to play but for fans of heavy strategy games along the vein of Counterstrike who are looking for something new and fresh, this could very well be the game you are waiting for.

Final Score: Bots Win. We Lose. Tone: Overwhelmingly Embarassing

Game Two: Gears of War

Later in the evening, we came back to the same venue to show our new partner-in-crime Peter Jackson a few of the new Xbox titles at the show. While they mingled and explored a variety of titles, Frankie and I decided to step into a grudge match of a new kind - a one on one Gears of War showdown.

We jumped into a game and spent the better part of 10 minutes just drooling over the environments and graphics. Words really can't do this game justice - it really looks better running on an HD monitor than it does in screenshots. As Frank oggled the pretty water and realistic gritty textures I managed to find a variety of sniper rifle and promptly delivered a killing headshot. Score one for the Locusts (the 'bad guy' species in GoW).

When round two began, I decided to head for the same rifle but this time, O'Connor was on to me. I took cover behind a wall (an integral part of the GoW experience) and tried to fire off a round to no avail. The downside to this rifle is that it's slow to reload and while that was happening, Frankie flanked me and gave me an up close and personal introduction to his chainsaw bayonet. Score one for the good guys.

Round three began and we engaged in a close quarters firefight, both of us using two burned out automobiles for cover. After trading a few dozen rounds Frankie managed to drop me with a well placed pistol round. We reset positions and entered into the battlefield again, this time things went my way and I managed to flush him out of cover with a well placed grenade to finish the job with my assault rifle. The score is 2-2, next kill wins it all.

When the final round began, we had a better sense of the map and it unfolded in a slower, more deliberate manner. We used cover wisely, sprinting through open spots and throwing ourselves against pillars and rocks to avoid incoming fire. I had Frankie in my sights and laid down supressing fire while I tried to move in closer for the kill. As I took cover on the opposite side of the wall he was hiding behind, Frankie jumped around and greeted me with a shotgun to the face. Game Over.

Final Score: Frankie 3, Sketch 2Tone: Tense, and crazy pretty

So, there you have it - another loss for Team Bungie (shock) and even more surprising, an actual WIN for Frankie (if only it were Halo).

Today I'll be out on the show floor happily pwning press on Halo 2 for Windows Vista, trying to regain some composure.

Bungie has announced two new projects today at X06. The first is a partnership with Peter Jackson and his talented crew to bring you another chapter in the Halo universe. The second is Halo Wars, a real-time strategy game being developed by Ensemble Studios. Get the scoop in the full story.

We've compiled a humorous list of the most prominent gamer stereotypes in the Halo 2 Xbox Live community. Check out our list, see if any of these seem familiar and take the quiz to find out which kind of gamer you are most like.

Are You Not Entertained?!

The Gallery and Voting Booth Forums are back with a vengeance today. Select few have been given privileges in both forums to revive them. Just now, something's been posted in both, so go check them out and expect more in the future!

Thank the Overlord, Achronos, for giving a few people access to those forums, and for putting up with my constant breaking of his site.

I also updated the News forum by checking "Also post news to forum" in this news post. Take that, inactivity!